The West African Public Interest Litigation
Centre (WAPILC) is a special project of the Open Society Initiative for West
Africa. It seeks to promote human rights, democracy and good governance by
improving the rule of law and access to justice for citizens of the
sub-region, In particular, WAPILC supports and initiates Public Interest
Litigation (PIL) efforts aimed at holding public officials and private
entities accountable for acting contrary to the public interest and
reforming anti-democratic policies. WAPILC's activities cover national,
sub-regional, and regional courts and other adjudicatory fora.
The Center is
based in Abuja, Nigeria and was developed as a
collaborative initiative between the Foundation,
its partners, and a broad range of civil society
organizations, including key stakeholders in the
sub region.
Background
OSIWA has over the years received several
applications from local lawyers and human rights
NGOs in West Africa for support on specific
constitutional and human rights issues. Many of
these proposals seek to respond to the harsh
realities for access to justice in West Africa
countries.
A number of factors which inhibit access to
justice in West Africa include:
{i} Legitimacy crisis resulting from the
superimposition of the western legal system over
the West African legal systems which is accorded
limited recognition. For many West Africans, the
formal justice system is foreign to them both in
terms of concepts and language
{ii} The lack of availability of legal
services. The issue of legal costs in most West
African states is a major barrier to access to
justice. Even in the limited cases where the
courts are accessible costs remain a key
impediment. Related to this is the issue of
technicalities and complexity of the law, lack
of comprehension of rights and duties.
OSIWA has
sought to respond to these issues by identifying
key interventions that can most strategically
respond to the immediate and individual needs of
each jurisdiction as well as seek to enable
sub-regional interventions {especially through
sharing best practices} that promote access to
justice and respect for human rights. The
concept of the WAPILC is in furtherance of this.
Justification for WAPILC
In most
West Africa Countries it is beyond question that
the legal system is seriously inadequate in
protecting many of the rights of the most
vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. In many of
these countries, there is little or no public
funding available for legal aid, most members of
the local bars are concentrated in large cities
leaving legal help inaccessible for large
portions of the rural population, and NGO
services are under-funded. There is a sense that
much of the population in West Africa have
minimal or no knowledge of their basic legal
rights. There are systemic challenges in the
slow pace of many court systems, local bars are
seen as being resistant to required or even
voluntary pro bono obligations, and there is a
pervasive undercurrent of concern about
political and justice system corruption.
In addition, across West Africa
constitutionalism and the protection of
fundamental human rights are areas in which our
lawyers have not been trained, either
academically or in practice.
The WAPILC is an attempt to bring justice to the
poor and the needy that form the vast majority
of the population in West Africa. This
population have no access to justice on account
of their poverty, ignorance and illiteracy. They
are not aware of their rights and the benefits
conferred upon them by their Constitutions and
the various sub-regional, regional and
international treaties that their governments
are party. Further, on account of their socially
and economically disadvantaged position they
lack the capacity to assert their rights and
they do not have the material resources with
which to enforce their social and economic
entitlements and combat injustice.
Funding
The WAPILC is
currently
funded by the Open Society Initiative for West
Africa.
WAPILC Team
Board
OSIWA Board
OSIWA Management
Team
Project Staff
Intern
Technical Committee
Femi Falana
Raymond
Atuguba
Ismael Madior Fall
Olawale Fapohunda
Janet Sallah-Njie
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